SHARPE'S ESCAPE

Richard Sharpe has risen through the ranks of His Majesty's Army in some 20 novels and a TV series, marked by stirring battle scenes, every manner of derring-do, and close attention to historical minutiae. Here he fights the Battle of Busaco, Portugal, against the French (1810). Simultaneously he has to deal with an incompetent commander and two malevolent Portuguese brothers. Adroitly capturing character, Patrick Tull sounds like a grizzled, gin-soaked foot soldier who saw it all firsthand and who enjoys nothing more than telling war stories. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 04]